Improvement in grain-separators



ZShets- -Sheet 1. M. H. SMITH. Gra ih Separator.

' Patented Mar. 29, 1870.

u. PETERS. mwmn m, Walhinliom n. c.

2 S heetsSheet 2.

I M. H. SMITH.

Grain Separator Patented Mar. 29, 1870. V

itlnitrd swa MYRON H. SMITH, O F LAWTON, MICHIGAN.

Letters Patent No. 101,324, dated March 29, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN-SEPARATORS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame To whom it may concern Be it known that I, MYRON H. SMITH, ofLawton, in the county of Van Enron and State of Michigan, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Grain-Separators and Graders; and I dodeclare that the following is a true and accurate description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters ofreference mark ed thereon, and being a part of this specification.

The nature of this invention relates to an improved construction ofmachines for cleaning wheat and other grains and seeds, separating themfrom each other, and eliminating therefrom chess, cockle, sticks, andother impurities.

It consists in the arrangement within the vibrating shoe of theseparatonof a series of sieves or screens and chess-boards of peculiarconstruction, so arranged that seed wheat, market wheat, timothy andcloverseeds may be cleaned and separated from each other, and dischargedthrough difi'erent spouts into proper receptacles orreceivers, whilesuch impurities as are not blown away at the tail of the mill aredischarged through another, the chess-boards and shoe being providedwith conductors, which convey the yarions grains to spouts leadingthrough the side of the mill. Where no seed is mixed with wheat, by'asimple transposition of the screens, the wheat, after being cleaned, maybe divided into two grades, the largest and plumpest berries beingreserved for seed and the remainder for market purposes.

It also consists in providing the distributing apron with a device forspreading the grain passing over it, and delivering it in a thin sheetto the screen.

The construction and operation of this improvement is such that seedsgenerally found in admixture with the wheat may be cleaned and savedinstead of being blown away with the chaff.

Figure 1, plate 1, is a side elevation, partially in section, of myimproved separator;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same;

Figure 3, plate 2, is a vertical longitudinal section of my combinedchess and cockle-screen, wheat-sieve,

and apron;

Figure 4 is the same of a combined screen and screen-apron, which isused for cleaning and grading wheat alone;

Figure 5 is the same of the lower sieve;

Figure 6' is the same of the clover-screen;

Figure 7 is an elevation of the discharge end of my combined chess-boardand timothy-screen, provided 'with inclined troughs leading tocorresponding condoctors in the adjacent side of the shoe;

Figure 8 is a plan of the same;

Figures 9 and 11 are elevations of the interior faces of the side wallsof the shoe; and

Figure 10 is a rear elevation of the mill.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each.figure.

In the drawings- A represents the casing of a separator of ordinaryconstruction, in the front part of which is hung the fan B in the usualmanner.

, G is the shoe pivoted under the hopper, hung and operated in likemanner with similar devices well known and in general use.

Dand D are distributing-aprons, the former of which is provided in themiddle part of its edge with a deflector, (1-, highest in its center,sloping in all parts to the front and tapering toward the .sides oftheapron, so that the volume of grain falling from the hopper on to theapron will be spread and discharged therefrom in a thin stream on bothsides of said deflector, and equally distributed on the screen below.

In each inner face of the side walls of the shoe three grooves or gainsare cut. In the upper pair b is inserted a screen, which carries thegrain toward the back end of the mill.

The next pair below, 0, are inclined in the same direction, parallelwith the first, but the grain on the side on which the conductors are,is deeper, so as to give the chess-board, shown in figs. 7 and 8, aninclination toward the conductors, said chess-boz'trd being inserted inthat pair of grooves.

The lower pair of gains at are inclined toward the front of the mill,and the screen E, fig. 5, which is insorted in them, is of spch meshthat the larger and plumper berries, which are desirable to save forseed, will not go through, but fall off onto the grain-board F, whichdelivers them into any convenient receptacle placed under the front ofthe mill, while the berries of ordinary size are separated therefrom bypassing through the meshes of the screen, falling on the bottom board 0,whence they are conveyed to the drawer G, ready for market.

The screen E, when used for separating seed from market wheat, shouldhave about seven meshes to the inch. When seed is not wanted, a finermeshed screen is used in the lower gains.

H is the chess-board, which is inserted in the gains 0. It is dividedinto three trough-like compartments by the transverse partitions e andf. The first compartment is covered by a screen, g, of about eighteenmeshes to the inch, through which timothy-seed alone will pass. As willbe seen on reference to figures 7 and 8 of the drawings, the chess-hoardis deeper on one side than the other, so that the bottoms of thecompartments incline toward the conductors h i j, which issue from thegain 0 through the side of the shoe, and which discharge intocorresponding spouts through the side of the mill, one of. which isshown atj', in fig. 10.

The chess-board being in place, a clover screen, I, is laid over it andthe apron D, its rear end resting on the partition f. This screen iscovered with wirecloth of about fourteen meshes to the inch, whichallows timothy and clover-seeds to pass through, while chess, cockle,and other impurities will fall off into the last compartment in thechess-board, whence they are discharged through the side of the mill bymeans of the conductor j and spout 7. V

J isa combined screen and apron, which is inserted in the upper pair ofgains. It is provided with a transverse apron, k, onits under side, asshown in fig. 3. That portion in front of the apron receives all thegrain as it falls from the apron D, together with any impurities whichmay be mixed with it, and, being covered with a screen, I, of abouteight meshes to the inch, allows timothy and clover-seeds to pass downonto the clover-screen below, while the wheat and the coarser impuritiesare carried along to the rear end, which is covered with a screen, m, ofabout four and one-half meshes to the inch. Through this screen m thewheat falls on the apron it, from which it falls on the upper or rearend of the grading-screen E below, any impurity carried down with itbeing blown away by the blast from the fan, at the same time the heads,'whitecaps, and other large impurities are blown away from the screen m.

The rear end of the screen J is provided with a deflecting-cleat,n,-whicl 1, while not of sufficient height to arrest the passage of theimpurities referred to, they being light and readily moved by the blast,serves to arrest the wheat a moment, and allows it to fall through themeshes of the screen an.

To clean and grade wheat and separate therefrom and from each other thetimothy and clover-seeds with which it is very frequently mixed, thevarious parts described being in place, grain from the hopper is fed tothe distributing-apron D, whose deflector it spreads it so that it fallsinan even sheet on the screen-apron J, where the wheat and coarserimpurities are disposed of, as just described, while the timothy andclover-seeds, with the finer impurities, fall through the screen I ontothe clover-screen I, which allows the seeds to drop through it, whilethe chess and cockle are delivered in the rear compartment of thechess-board, thence through the spout j out of the mill. At the sametime the seeds, falling on the apron D, are distributed over the finescreen g, which allows the timothy-seed to drop through into the firstcompartment, while the clover-seed, being coarser, is shaken into thenext compartment, when both varieties of seed are delivered throughthespouts h i into receptacles conveniently placed at the side of themill.

1 Where no seed is mixed with grain to be cleaned for market thechess-board is inserted in the gains 0 bottom up; but when seed-wheat iswanted, the chessboard is inserted as first described, and thecloverscreen replaced with a plain board.

The various screens and chess-board are secured in place by hooks in theusualmanner.

It is well known that from certain circumstances it often occurs that aconsiderable percentage of the berries are diminished in size, and areknown as shrunken wheat, which it is desirable to save for market.Ordinarily these shrunken, berries are lost in cleaning, from beingblown away with the chaff. To save these berries I employ the combinedscreen and apron shown in fig. 4, which is equally applicable to thecleaning. of the best quality of wheet where no seeds are to beseparatedfrom it.

K is a screen-frame, on the upper surface of which is placed a screen,0, of about four meshes to theinch. p is a deflecting-plate, of sheetmetal, whose shaft is journaled across the rear end of the screen-frame,

ofwhich the flame is suspended in the notches r in thegains b.

The frame is sustained at any inclination by a'hoolr or bolt enteringone of the holes a, fig. 11, in the side removed. The plate isadjustable to any desired height by the temper-screw q.

wheat having passed through the screen .0, it is carried back on thescreen t, which serves as an apron, whence it falls on the rear end ofthe screen E below, over whose surface it may travel the whole length,necessary, afiording every opportunity for the blast to carry away anyremaining impurity; or if too heavy (which should be of the proper mesh)onto the bottom board 0, and thence into the drawer G, while the wheat,with the shrunken berries saved, will be deposited at the front of themill over the grain-board F.

It is not essential that the screen t should be attached to the frame K,as it may be on a separate the gains 0.

cure by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement, in the vibrating shoe 0, of the gains 1) c d,recesses a, bolt-holes s, conductors h i j, and distributing-aprons D D,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The deflector or spreader (I, attached to the feedapron of aseparator, as and for the purpose set forth.

I 3. The reversible combined screen and apron J, provided with screens'lm, apron k, andcleat n, as and for the purpose set'forth.

p, in connection with the open apron t, when arranged ald operating inthe manner and for the purpose speci ed.

5. The arrangement within the shoe 0 of the reand E, and the chess-boardH, in connection with the spouts h, i, and j, when constructed asdescribed, and operating as and for the purposes set forth.

MYRON H. SMITH.

Witnesses:

H. F. Ennn'rs, H. S. SPRAGUE.

said shaft being left with projecting ends, by means "of the shoe, theupper screen and chess-board being I t is a screen of about fourteenmeshes to the inch,

and allow them to fall through; in the meantime, the

to be blown away, it will pass through the screen E frame, and insertedin a gain below and parallel with What I claim as my invention, anddesire to se- 4. The screen-frame K, with its screen 0 and plateversible combined screen and apron J, the screens I

